I got caught up on some of my reading while I was sick. One of the things in my “to read” stack were the second and third Septimus Heap books: Flyte and Phyisik.
I read the first book, Magyk, last spring, after borrowing it from my mom. I figured it was a knock-off of the Harry Potter books, but since that series was over and I needed something to read, I didn’t really care. Besides, I love kids’ books, so even if it wasn’t a great book, I’d probably still enjoy it. And it wasn’t, and I did. There wasn’t anything wrong with the book, it just wasn’t one of the best kids’ books I’ve ever read. It was definitely good enough to read the next book in the series, though, which was better than the first. And then I read the third book, which was better than the second. At this point, after finishing the third book, I’m pretty impressed with the series.
One of the things that stands out to me is the way female characters are handled. The land where the stories take place is ruled by a line of Queens. The queens marry whomever they please. The princess in the stories does pretty much as she likes. Instead of being locked up in the equivalent of a gilded cage, she moves freely about the town. She not only has adventures, but in the second book, she puts on her big girl pants and saves her own damn self, instead of waiting for someone else to do it for her. In the third book, she takes the lead roll in saving her brother. And it’s all presented without a hint of her strength being at all extraordinary for a princess.
She’s not just a token strong female character, either. The head wizard and the princess’ “aunt” play important roles throughout the stories. In the third book, there is a young seafaring trader who helps the princess find her brother. There are powerful female witch covens and numerous woman business owners.
This series is shaping up to be a wonderful little feminist gem, actually.
I wasn’t able to get the next two books from the library, so I went ahead and ordered them from Abe Books. I can’t wait for them to get here!
(Oh, and they are not at all a Harry Potter knock off. Yeah, there are wizards, and the books are written for kids, but that’s about where the similarity ends.)
red paper boat 